Hearts of Fire Redone
by The Fire Fox of the Red Moon
Summary: For all you people who loved this story and saw the final announcement, here it is the re-written Hearts of Fire. Chapter 1 up so far, will have up the rest by later tonight. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Hearts of Fire**

**Chapter 1**

**Lone Wolf**

A normal Monday morning. Nothing special just...normal. Koyuki hated Mondays, but then again, she hated every day.

Koyuki Honoka, age 17. She was fairly pretty. Pale skin and light freckles on her cheeks. She was, all things considered, normal looking, accept for one thing. Her hair, long and straight accept at the end where it went form straight to curly and it was white. Pure white hair, the color of snow. The very trait for which she was named, "Koyuki", meaning "pure snow". Her eyes were a deep, forest green. Emerald pools of sdness and if you looked too long into them, you'd go mad.

Her unusual appearance kept most people away from her, but her story was what really made normal people avoid her. Truth was, they were afraid of her, and people have a tendancy to hate and fear what they do not understand. _**Human ignorance, they're so simple-minded.**_Koyuki thought bitterly as she walked slowly down the street to her school. All the students at her school teased and abused her. And every day after school, a new group of people, be it girls, boys, even teachers on occasion cornered her somewhere and beat her within an inch of her life.

It wasn't that she couldn't fight back, though. If she fought back it would make things worse than they already were. And she hated every one and everything around her to the point where she was tempted to burn down the entire city. If things got any worse, she felt she'd end up doing it and that wouldn't help. Even Spirit World would have to get involved if they found out a half demon burned down an entire city.

Her father had been a Faerie demon. A member of a forest dwelling people that communicated with the nature around them. They found their true peace in the forest and saw nature as the purest source of life, truly untainted, no matter where it was. Their legends were that in ancients times, the gods had given each Faerie five forms that they were born with the ability to have, but had to earn over the course of their lives. When a Faerie was born, he or she was given a natural form. A body they could escape to in order to be one with the forest. As they grew older, they gained the ability to take on more forms. Koyuki's father was born with the form of a hare but as he grew older and stonger, he earned the form of the eagle, the stag, the bear and the wolf.

When he was in his early 20's, he left the Demon World and came to the human one. There he met Koyuki's mother, Naomi Hanajima, and they fell in love. His name was Kyoshiro, and he loved Naomi with everything he had, and when his daughter was born, he loved her just the same.

Koyuki had inherited her father's ancient Faerie abilites. When she was born, the first form she could take was that of a pure white dove. When she was five, she could take the form of a white cat with a dark brown tail and brown face. What would frighten most people, however, delighted both Koyuki's mother and her father. One of the reasons Kyoshiro married Naomi in the first place was because she did not fear his power. She accepted his demon ancestry and all the forms he took. So when her daughter could do the same, she felt pride and happiness for her child. "Koyuki-chan," her mother used to say," you look so much like me when I was your age, but I see more and more of your father in you every day."

Koyuki smiled sadly to herself, _**the only time I can hear her say that is in my memories now**__, _she thought. Remembering fondly the happiness that she had once felt and knowing that she would never be that happy again.

Koyuki's parents had died in a fire ten years previous. Koyuki had been 7. She had walked home from elementary school, which at the time was down the street from where her home was. Only to turn the corner and find her house in flames. She ran inside shouting for her parents until coming upon their bedroom. The child screamed in horror as both her parents lay dead on the floor. Blood stained the carpet and it pooled around the still bodies as flames raged around them. The little girl fell to her knees and crawled over to her parents, crying over them and screaming for help, but no one came. As she cried, she saw a shadow move into the corner of the room towards the window. As it turned to jump away, it looked over it's shoulder and dark gray eyes with three slashes across the left one stared at her from under a black hood. She froze, as the crazed gray eyes looked right through her. Never before had she felt such blood lust.

The person looked as though he was about to head over to her, but a raven with blazing red eyes flew in and landed on the windowsill. It cawed at the man angrily, he turned away from the girl, reluctantly; and followed the bird out. She tried running after him but the ceiling, weak from burning, collapsed and trapped her under it.

It started raining not long after that, and the fire was put out, with help from the fire department that arrived shortly after it began raining. Luckily, Koyuki had not sustained life threatening injuries, but because of the burning wood that fell on top of her, a large burn scar was left on her back. She still carried the scar. A permenant reminder of what had happened all those years ago. Her parents, were taken to the hospital in body bags, and that was the last the little girl saw of them.

After that, Koyuki was put in foster care, but when she turned 12, after gaining two new forms, one of a samlon and the other a white-tail doe, she left foster care and struk out on her own. Determined to make her own life, and to one day find the cloaked man, with the gray eyes and scars. Who carried a red eyed raven. She knew he had murdered her family, and she wanted revenge.

Now she was 17 and had gained her final form, the wolf. The same form her father had.

Koyuki walked throught the school front gates and on to her first period class, P.E. _**Oh joy**_, she thought irritated coming up on the girl's locker room.

"Hey Koyuki!" Called an annoying high pitched voice from behind her.

She sighed under her breath.

Meroko Shirima, Koyuki's most hated person besides her parent's murderer since the third grade. Meroko and her four friends came up behind her and she started talking again.

"Today we're going to beat you so bad not even your mom will look at you... oh wait, she's dead!" Meroko and her friends began to laugh hysterically. _**Wow really? That's best they could come up with? Talk about pathetic.**__. _Koyuki thought, seriously surprised that that was all they had to say. She rolled her eyes.

She didn't really care about the fact that her parents were dead had been so for such a long time, she was used to it. Ten years of living in a crappy old run down apartment and having no friends and everyone at school hating your guts can make someone pretty cold and dead inside.

She really did hate them. "Why don't you go be a bitch somewhere else Meroko?" She asked innocently as if she were talking to a friend about any normal topic. "Or maybe," she continued, "you and your friends could go to that fruity little hole in the wall, downtown. This place isn't your style after all. You whores would fit in a lot better in the red-light district than in this town, might even make you more popular." The five girls gasped and didn't say anything as they stomped off, and Koyuki smirked in spite of herself.

_**Heh, those idiot human girls are so stupid and desperate for attention they'll probably head down to that strip club anyway. **_She thought, cackling quietly.

She walked out after changing into her P.E. uniform. A large, gray t-shirt and short, navy blue shorts.

"Alright class!" Shouted Koyuki's P.E. teacher, "We have a jog-walk today. Seven laps for a **D,** ten laps for an **A**, now get going!" He shouted and the whole class groaned.

_**Oh great, what's next? Run eight miles straight at top speed in three seconds? Gimme a freakin break. **_Koyuki thought annoyed.

Today was just one of those days when you're hating life, and you think the world and everyone in it suck, all while mentally cussing out everone you come in contact with.

Koyuki was on her fourth lap when she decided to run along the grassy edge of the track. It was close to the fence that led to the park and was never maintained so there were weeds and long grasses everywhere. Plus the trees gave a comforting coolness to the runners, having to jog in the sun for an hour.

Koyuki was passing under a tree when a sharp pain shot through her leg and she fell to the ground with a yelp. It caught everyone's attention and they crowded around her to laugh at her so-called, "clumsiness", but they all stoped dead when they saw that her ankle was caught in what looked like a fox trap.

Not only did it hurt, but it made her extremely angry to think that some asshole, put it there. If it was for her, she was pissed, but it wasn't that bad, she could take pain. But what if someone else has stepped in it? They could be really hurt. She didn't like a lot of people, like if Meroko had gotten caught in it she wouldn't have minded so much, but she didn't like innocent people getting hurt. Still...

" I'm going to kill whoever put this here!" She yelled, and the kids took a step back. Koyuki's temper was legendary. Kids in schools all over the country had heard scary stories about a girl at Mahora High School who's temper was known to rival that of an erupting volcano. With rumors like that going around, which were all true by the way, people knew to get out of her way when she got angry. She didn't always fight back when she was getting ganged up on, but she'd been in her share of street rumbles and gang fights. She was no pushover.

Koyuki tried to pry the trap off her leg but it was no use. It needed a key, that or a lazer beam, and Koyuki didn't think anyone had one of those. The pain shot trhough and she winced, then stopped moving. Already she felt the warm sticky, wetness of blood seeping from the pionts where the teeth of the trap had cut through her skin. It's metallic scent filled her nostrils and made her feel a bit woozy. She never did like the smeel of blood, not since her parents' murder.

She shifted to a more comfortable position and winced again. She could feel the teeth scraping her bone as they dug deeper into her leg.

_**This is not going to be a good day.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Drag me to Hell**

_**Man this hurts**_, she thought annoyed. Suddenly, Koyuki felt the chain go taught and it tugged at her leg. She cried out.

"Ow,ow,ow who's pulling on the chain?" She yelled.

"Nobody is." Said a boy nearby. Koyuki looked at him doubtfully. Then took a sideways glance at the chain, nobody was anywhere near it. The trap was attached to a five foot metal chain that seemed to be buried deep in the ground.

Everyone went quiet and watched the chain. It jerked hard and Koyuki was sharply dragged about a foot over. She let out a quick, pain-filled yell. Then a strange humming noise could be heard and a small black hole appeared where the chain went into the ground. It got bigger, inching ever closer to the trapped Koyuki. "Everyone get back right now!" She yelled and everyone moved to get out if the way.

She knew what it was, a portal, _**and one most likely leading to demon world**_, she thought, feeling the demonic pulse eminationg from the black mass. Koyuki had seen a few unstable portals popping up randomly in the middle of nowhere over the years but they had been small, shifing, multi-colored blobs that had lasted for only a minute or one however, was stable and very large._** This portal is being made on purpose. **_Koyuki concluded, but for what purpose exactly she disn't know. Still, she figured she'd find out soon enough. Trying not to panic because she knew where she was headed.

_**I am so screwed if I don't get out of here!**_ She thought, frantically trying to free herself but after a while stopped because every time she moved the trap teeth dug deeper into her leg. The portal opened up and it reached Koyuki. She was swallowed up into its black abbyss. Then, just like that, it was gone, all of it, gone. No trap, no black hole, nothing. It was gone, and so was Koyuki.

The demon girl remained strangely calm, despite the fact that she was practically on and express chain to hell, or the nearest thing to it. Koyuki knew alot about demon world. Her father had told her many stories about the lands where he had come from and the adventures he'd had. He told her that many years before, he had grown tired of all the chaos going on in demon world and had decided to come to the human world instead. There he had met Koyuki's mother.

Kyoshiro had saved her from a collapsing building and it pretty much went from there. Later on, Kyoshiro told Naomi that he was a demon but she didn't care and said that it didn't matter what he was, as long as he loved her, that she would stand by him no matter what. After that, they eventually got married, had Koyuki, and had taught her of her demon heretage and how to use her abilities.

She was brought from her nostaliga when there was a white light up ahead. _**That**_, she figured, _**must be the entrance to demon world.**_ Koyuki smlied deviously a clever thought coming to mind, _**wait until those demons find out that i'm not the helpless little human they intended to catch. **_

She was pulled through the opening and for a moment everthing when black, then she could see a large group of lizard like creatures surrounding her. "Let'sssss eat her." said one." No, let'ssss sssssell her to the human sssssslave market thing."said another." It'sssssss human trafficing you duncccccce!" Scolded a different lizard man from the back of the crowd, who roughly hit his friend over the head. "How am I sssssuposssed to know?" the one who had suggested she be sold roared.

Koyuki looked aroud her and was getting annoyed. She quickly shifted into her wolf form and started growling, snarling and snapping at anyone who came too close. They backed up quickly, trying to get away from her snapping jaws. Koyuki realized that the chain was even longer down here, at least two-hundred feet. _**If I get a flying start,I might be able to break the chain then find a way to get the trap off later. **_

The ability of being able to take several animal forms came with other perks. She could not only fully transform into another creature entirely, but the animals she could shift into she could take certain traits from them to use on their own. The cat's night vision, the wolf's hearing and sense of smell, the salmon's gills, the doe's jumping strength, and the dove's wings.

Koyuki menally planned her escape and was getting ready to shift back into her human form and summon her dove wings when she heard one of the lizard men talking to his buddy,

"What shoulde we do with her? You can sense the demon energy coming from her, she won't be very good to eat, and will fetch a poor price at best."

"Why ask me?" Said the buddy, "Makuro is patroling not far from here, maybe we could move on and just leve her here, they'll come across her eventually." He suggested.

"And have her rat us out? No way! We can't have that demon lord or her human-loving lacky find us. We have to keep this under wraps got it?" Hissed another.

Their whispers gave Koyuki an idea. She figured blowing something up was a bit too drastic and she didn't want to damage the forest, but a good, loud howl would be just enough to signal someone her captors didn't want around. And if they were only about two miles from here, then, if she stuck to her original plan and flew to the extent of her chain, they would probably see her._** This way there's a possibility that if the chain doesn't break when I reach its limit that I might get a rescue.**_ Koyuki hoped that if things went wrong with her plan that she would have a little help killing everyone.

Koyuki quickly ran about in a circle chasing and snapping at the lizard men to get them farther back from her. Once that was done, she, fast as lightning, dashed to the middle and howled as loud as she could.(Now a wolf howling regularly can be heard quite clearly from about six miles away, so imagine how loud it must be when a **demon** wolf is howling a loud as it possibly can. Especially for people who are only two miles away. I think that the patrol heard her!)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**The Escape!**

(For those of you who have watched Yu Yu Hakusho, I hope I don't have to explain who Hiei and Makuro are. If you don't, then what the hell are you doing reading this? And for those of you who hate Makuro i'm not gonna kill her, so I apoligise, but she gets totally yukipwned later!)

"What was that?" Rag'aan, a small imp demon, asked Hiei.

"From what I can tell it sounded like a wolf howl." He said, staring ahead of him as he stood atop the large termite demon that acted as both a home and as transportation for Lady Makuro, one of the three "kings" of demon world. Hiei was destined to be her replacment in the event of her death.

"But aren't wolves human world creatures?" Rag'aan asked.

" Yes," Hiei answered, "But we do have wolf demons here, you idiot. Probaly a clan getting into a territory squablle or on a hunting patrol." He said not looking at the small demon.

"Plus," He went, "Even if it is a wolf, it's nothing we need concern ourselves with. Just ignore it."

" And why is that?" The imp questioned.

"Because," Hiei growled," I've got more important things to do than waste my time on some worthless human world dog."

At the same time, Koyuki had shifted back to her normal human frm, and was summoning her dove traits. Large white wings sprouted from her back and unfolded in all their, white, plimy magesty. She pumped them once, the wind from them forcing the lizards back even further and she lifted off the ground, heading higher into the sky.

"What is that?" Rag'aan shouted, seeing birds fleeing a group of trees and catching a quick glimpse of something large and white. Hiei and Rag'aan stared intently at the spot where they had seen the birds fly from. Suddenly Koyuki burst through the trees in a flurry of feathers and leaves. The two demon's eyes widened in shock. Here was what looked somewhat like a human girl, with silver hair, forest green eyes and angel wings. It was incredible, definatly not something you see every day.

"Quickly, shock the line, we need to get her down now, and let's hope that the patrol hasn't seen her yet." Yelled one of the lizard demons and another pulled a switch on a power box that was conected to Koyuki's chain. Two-thousand volts shot up the chain and into her body. She let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Hiei winced and Rag'aan covered his ears. "Ahhhhhh that sound, it makes me feel like my ears drums are bleeding!" Rag'aan said throught gritted teeth.

Pulse after agonizing pulse coursed through her, rakcking her entire body. She felt as though her mind would explode and she could do nothing but scream . _**It hurts! It hurts! Make it STOP! **_She cried out in her thoughts.

Because of hus Jagan eye, one of his abiliteies was reading minds. He hadn't tried to read her's, but it was so loud that her inner voice hit the frequency his Jagan was on and he heart her screams ringing in his ears and coursing through his mind.

Hiei covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut.. Not only was he hearing her scream regularly but she was screaming even louder in her thoughts. _**Dammit! It's so loud!**_Hiei thought.

Suddenly everything went silent. There was no screaming from her anymore, physically or mentally. _**She must have fallen unconscious. **_Hiei thought. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw her fall out of the sky, back into the cover of the trees.

He stared at the spot where she'd dissapeared, pouring over is options. Hiei had seen and done his share of cruelty and he'd expeirienced some of the worst of it. But his year in human world, where he had met the now former spirit detective Yusuke Urameshi, Hiei had changed. Yusuke had changed the way he viewed certain things. Plus his friend, and former partner-in-crime, Kurama, who was somewhat the re-incarnation of Youko Kurama, had helped him see the world in a new way.

Sixteen years ago Youko Kurama was thought to have been killed while escaping a botched burglary. In his weakened state he fled to the human world where he spent his time rebuilding his strength while inhabiting a human body. That was Kurama, or Suichi Minamino, as was his name to his "mother" so to speak. Hiei hadn't seen him though since the Demon World Tournament six monthes ago. He suspected that he had gone back to the human world once the tournament had ended.

Meanwhile, Koyuki was fighting the constant lizard demons that were roping her wings and tieing her down, so that she couldn't fly away again. _**Damn, what am I gonna do!**_ She thought angrily. Her vision was getting blurry and she could feel herself getting weaker. She was finding it difficult to move after the shock therapy had scrambled her nervous system and she felt her motor skills sharting to shut down.

"That'ssssss it boyssssss! Tie her down!."

"I'm going." Hiei said at last, not looking at Rag'aan.

"What do you mean 'you're going'? Going where? To help that girl? Absolutely not! If you leave, Makuro will leave without you, the communications are down and on foot it takes at the very least, two months to get to the check point. Plus with an injured human, reaking of blood, it'll take over three!" Gragort fumed orders and warnings and questions all at the same time. Hiei was certain the little demon was throwing some curse words at him in impish but he ignored them.

" I know all that already. And I don't care if you go on without me because I'll meet up with you at the check-in point in about two months, maybe less depending on what happens." Hiei told the imp.

"But who's going to tell Lady Makuro where you are and why you left?" Rag'aan asked thinking he'd won the argument and that was that.

"Easy. You will." Hiei told him.

"WHHHHHAAAAT?" The imp screamed. He could hardly believe his ears.

"You heard me." Hiei said.

" I most certainly will not. Lady Makuro will have my hide! I will not allow you to...hey Hiei!"

Too late. Hiei had jumped off the termite and had dissapeared into the trees. Rag'aan sighed. "What am I going to do with him?" he wondered out loud._** But more importantly, what am I going to tell Lady Makuro?**_ The imp sat down so he could think up a way to tell Makuro what had happened to her leiutenant without getting killed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Rescue!**

**Wolf and Dragon Meet**

"_DIE_!" Koyuki yelled, leaping at a lizard demon, transforming into a wolf mid air and sinking her fangs inot his throat and leping back into her doe form away from another on coming attacker. She shifted into her human form again and used the doe's leg strength to leap high into the air then the cat's claws to slice the troats of two lizards that had jumped after her. She jumped back and opened her wings again, hovering above them when someone flew an axe up at her, is flew by her a nipped her wing, she cried out and flapped to the ground, wing dripping blood. Koyuki landed a few feet away and stumbled, falling to her knees and leaned up, huffing against a tree trunk. She was somewhat in control of herself, not that the full effects of the shock had worn off. Buut she was still in pain, and her muscles still spazzed when she moved too fast or landed to hard, her arm twitched and she looked up to find a group of lizard men comin at her, with axes swords and daggers.

_**This is it, I'm done. **_She thought despairingly.

Koyuki closed her eyes waiting for their blades to reach her and death to follow. She heard slashing, gurgleing, then silence. She opened up her eyes just a bit, then they shot open. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. A young man, about two inches taller than her, (even without his hair,) with spiked jet black hair, and a white starburst, wearing a black cloak and white scarf, blood covered sword at his side, was standing in front of her. He had slashed the throats of every demon that had rushed her.

The lizards took a few steps back." Oh hell. It's Hiei." One of them said.

_**Hiei? Is that his name?**_ Koyuki was brought out of her thoughts when,

" Are you hurt?" He asked her, voice devoid of emotion. She shook her head.

"No. Besides the trap i'm fine." She informed him. If he was gonna be all business then so was she. He looked at her leg and spotted the trap digging into her, then, faster than Koyuki could see, sliced the trap in half releasing Koyuki's ankle. She retracted her wings and they vanished, but there was still a bloody gash on her back. She stood up. Shakily, but at least she was on her feet. Hiei took that as a sign that she was fit enough to move around. That way, if there was a problem, she could get out of harms way on her own. The lizard men had regained some of their composure and started to charge Hiei and Koyuki.

" Look human," He said as he raised his sword and took a fighting stance," I need you to go hide someplace where you won't get in my way." He ordered her a bit harshly.

_** Oh damn, **_Hiei mentally slapped himself, _**that made me sound like an asshole, now she'll be pissed. I forgot how touchy human women were. **_But Koyuki just nodded and ran off to the side with scarsly a limp. That puzzled Hiei a bit, but he would have time to wonder about it later. Now he had to worry about the countless lizard demons coming at him. He killed a great many of them and didn't get a scratch on him. Hiei wasn't even breaking a sweat.

However, they had managed to back him up against a large boulder. He was fighting them off alright, but he didn't notice the lizard demon creeping up behind him from the top of the boulder, who had a dagger in his hand. But while Hiei didn't notice him, Koyuki did, and so she shifted into her wolf form and crept up to the bushes at the base of the rock. Her plan was to kill the demon right before he hit.

Koyuki slid herself along the forest floor, silent as an owl in flight. Slowly, silently, stalking her demon was getting ready to spring, and so was Koyuki. He jumped and Hiei turned around to see a large lizard demon, dagger at the ready, coming at him. Koyuki hurtled herself out of the bushes and bit down hard as she closed her jaws around the side of the lizard demon's neck.

He struggled as the two landed on the ground. They rolled around wrestleing. Each fighter trying to gain advantage over the other. The demon had purposely kicked her injured leg making her let go of his neck, so his injuries there weren't life threatening. Still Koyuki had gotten a few other blows in. She had bitten the crap out of his right arm and now she was jaw-locked onto his right shoulder.(What? You think pitbulls are the only dogs who can do lock-jaw?)

Hiei was battleing with two other lizards that had ganged up on him, but he watched Koyuki out of the corner of his eye as she dealt with her own problems. _**Why did she interfere? I could have handled it. She didn't have to get involved. **_He thought. Then his eyes widened in shock as the lizard demon Koyuki was fighting took out his dagger, the one that had been intended for Hiei, and plunged it into her shoulder, dangerously close to her heart too. She let go of his shoulder with a yelp and he took the opportunity to kick her off him.

She layed a few feet away, still and unmoving, eyes closed. _**Damn is she...? **_Hiei thought, standing still . He had killed the two lizard men he had been fighting and was now watching the chaos unravel before him.

"Hehehe. Too bad wolfy. But it looks like I win." He was reaching towards Koyuki and his hand was about two inches from her when,

"_I don't think so." _she said snapping open her yellow eyes. She shot up and locked onto his neck again, only this time she didn't hesitate, and she ripped out his throat. Her pure white coat was stained red on her chest, muzzle, shoulder and leg.

He stopped struggling and his bidy grew limp. Koyuki she began to limp over to Hiei but she collapsed to the ground and faded into her human form, still soaked in the blood of the demon and her own. Hiei flitted over to her. He turned her over and held her up against him. He called out to her. "Human. Human! Get ahold of yourself! He yelled, but she didn't move and remained unresponsive.

"Can you hear me? I said wake up!" He shook her a bit. Then he stopped. He could see her move and her eyes started to open, then he saw green pupils staring up at him.

"Am I dead?" She asked him, a bit dazed.

"No fool, you're not dead." Hiei replied, and Koyuki swore she saw the slight look of concern leave his eyes and be replaced by relief, but it disappeared in a flash.

"What happened to the demons?" Koyuki asked.

"They're all dead." He answered, then actually took into account what she had said. He looked at her.

"How did you know they were demons?"He asked her.

"I'm a half demon." She said.

_**That explains alot.**_ Hiei thought with ralization and his eye twitched in annoyance. Suddenly remembering the demon energy bursts he had felt when he'd first seen her. It made perfect sense.

Koyuki tried to stand but she fell back down clutching her shoulder. Blood seeped sluggisgly from the wound near her heart, and her breathing was heavy.

"Calm down half-demon, I need to get that dagger out and bandage up the rest of your wounds." He said moving to pick her up. She moved as he lifted her up bridal style, struggling to get out of his grasp, but he held her tight.

"Don't move," Hiei ordered, " I'm going to pull out the dagger. Just try not to scream." He looked at her and she nodded, ceacing her struggling and letting him carry her over to a tree, where he set her down against it.

He placed his left hand on Koyuki's right shoulder and grabbed the dagger handle with his right hand. "Ready?" He asked quietly, Koyuki closed her eyes and nodded. Hiei pulled and Koyuki bit her lower lip, clutching the dirt in her hand. The dagger was out and the wound was now bleeding freely. Koyuki released the breath she'd been holding and ripped off her jacket sleeves, useing one to bandage up her shoulder and the other to bandage her ankle.

"There, I should be fine now. I hear faster than humans. Being half demon does have it's perks." She said, with a small smile. She started to haul herself up to a standing position, using the tree to support herself. Hiei stared at her with a straight face but in his mind was in a bit of dissarray.

_** What is with this girl? I've met strange humans before, and even stranger half-demons, Yusuke proves that, but this is by far the strangest person I've ever incountered. Most people I know would be whining and crying, they wouldn't even bother moving after injuries like that. Even some demons would be out of it for a while. **_

Koyuki had noticed Hiei staring at her." Is something wrong?"she said.

"Huh? Oh it's...it's...nothing. Forget it." He said forcefully and he started to walk away. "Come on," He called to Koyuki, "I've got someplace to be, a long way to go, and only two months to get there." He didn't look at her as she ran to catch up with him._** She's barely limping and isn't even breathing heavily, who is this she? **_Hiei wondered.

They walked side by side in silence. And Koyuki was getting un- easy." Ummmmm," she said and Hiei shifted his gaze to look at her, seeming bored, "my name's Koyuki, Koyuki Honoka. thanks for helping me back there." She introduced herself with a light smile.

Hiei looked ahead of himself again and didn't reply. Koyuki was kind of annoyed, but she didn't show it and pressed a little farther. "Do you have a name?" she asked with innocent curiosity. Then mentally smacked herself,_ Uh that was a dumb question to ask, of COURSE he has a name! _She even felt stupid for asking at all, she alredy knew his name from when the lizards had said it earlier, but she wanted to be polite.

Hiei looked back at her and was quiet for a few moments, then replied, "Hiei." He said and went back to watching ahead.

They had been walking awhile and Koyuki was trying hard not to show it, but she was exhausted. Her ankle had been throbbing for some time, and her chest wound was starting to hurt her.

Hiei noticed that the strange half demon, Koyuki her name was, had been lagging farther and farther behind over the past hour. They'd been traveling at a pretty steady pace for four or five hours now, and it was getting dark. Hiei was a bit annoyed that they'd have to stop sooner because of her, but he was still impressed that she was able to keep up as well as she did. Hiei knew better than anyone that the demon world woods at night, especially with an injured half demon is basically the same as digging yourself a grave.

He stopped and Koyuki looked relieved to be resting.

"We should find a place to stay tonight. Find a camp, build a fire, get something to eat, and rest." Hiei said. Koyuki perked up at the mention of fire and food. Glad she could be doing something useful rather than following Hiei around all day. For the past few hours she was thinking of a way she could repay the demon, here was her chance to start. Koyuki had thought she was being a burden to him, but now she had a chance to prove herself.

"If you find a clearing I can start the fire and get the food!" She volunteered. And he nodded. Hiei told her to wait in a hollowed out tree stump until he got back. He said he was going to scope the area for a small clearing and to see if there were any threats nearby.

"Be quiet and don't move from this spot. If I come back and find you gone you're going to wish that you'd died with the lizards." he looked at her sternly and she nodded, settling herself, signaling to him that she wouldn't move.

Hiei had found no threats and a small clearing near the edge of the woods. It was a few yards from a stream, so water wasn't a problem. _**I better get back to the Wolf. **_He concluded turning away from a cliff he'd been standing on that oversaw a vally. He headed back towards the place where he had left his charge. Hiei expected her to be gone. Possibly spooked by an owl or mouse and had run off, but when he got to the tree stump, there she was, waiting for him just as he had left her. Noticably more tired, but unharmed.

Hiei led her to the clearing and she set to work picking up branches, sticks, and dry grass. Hiei was relaxing on a low hanging tree branch pretending to be asleep. In truth though, he would peek open one of his eyes every few minutes to see what Koyuki was doing. _**I wonder how she's going to get a fire started without any flint. **_Hiei thought, inwardly chuckling. Suddenly there was the sound of fingers snapping, a pop, and then the sound of a crackling fire.

Hiei was, needless to say, a bit surprised, "How did you do that?" He asked her, sitting up.

"Do what?" she questioned, honestly looking like she had no idea what he was talking about. Hiei wondered if she was mocking him or if she really had no clue what he was asking her.

"That," he said, motioning to the fire, "start the fire without using anything." He looked at her and eyes narrowing, she stared at him , and said nothing.

"What?" He asked, annoyed. Koyuki looked thoughtful as she though of the best way to respond.

"Well," the girl began, "My father was a Faerie. You may have heard of them. Forest dwellers, shape sifters. They are people of th elements." And Hiei nodded.

"I've heard of them, so what?" He asked.

She looked over to him again, "We are people of the elements, and while I'm not particularly skilled in it, I can use elemental magic. Fire is an element, I can only really create small spurts of flame, I can also use water magic a little." She said, snappingher fingers and a small flame hovered over her hand, then she snapped again and the flame was gone. "See?" She asked making sure he got it, and Hiei nodded.

He turned back to his tree and jumped back up on the branch he was previously sitting on, closing his eyes. "I wouldn't fall asleep just yet Hiei." Koyuki told him, tending the fire.

"Oh? And why not?" He asked, looking at her and wondering why she was preventing him from a well earned nap.

" Because," she answered, not looking at him, "I'm going to go get something to eat for us," Koyuki paused again then added hastily, "unless of course you don't want anything, then i'll just get something for me. You eat meat, right?" She looked at Hiei intently, he asnwered immidiately.

"Sure, meat's fine. Any kind you can catch. As long as it's not too cooked." Hiei paused for a minute, then continued, "I'll stay up a bit longer, I guess." When Hiei was finnished, he leaned up against the tree again and Koyuki began to walk away.

As he watched her disapper into the darkness, he wondered briefly if she would be alright on her own, but he decided not to worry himself about it, and looked up at the stars as he waited for the girl to return.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Conditioned Company**

**Feelings Considered**

When Koyuki returned, it was rather late, she had with her two wood pidgeons and two small fish. Her hands were a bit cut up, most likely from trying to catch the fish in the dark._**Foolish girl. She must have cut her hands on the rocks. **_Hiei, thought sighing to himself in exhasperation.

However the half demon girl paid him no mind and set to work skinning the fish and plucking off the pidgeons' feathers. It didn't take very long, but more than once Hiei was tempted to get up and help her. After all he could tell the cuts on her hands were bothering her as she worked. But before he could make up his mind, she'd finished and all the food was on the fire, being cooked.

Not long after she called him over to eat.

"Hey how do you like that?" Koyuki asked Hiei as he ate his pidgeon hungrily, having already devoured his fish. He glanced at her with a bored, 'did-you-say-something,' look.

" I'm only asking if you like the taste." She said a bit taken aback. Hiei swallowed then said,

" It's alright, better than the crap I usually get." He lied. Truthfully, it was great. Most likely because he was starving, more so than he's thought, but it was so good. Much better than the usual 'fancy food' he got at Mukuro's. It was always high grade stuff. Fit for a king. But he'd grown up with outdoor camp meals and 'peasant food' so to speak. He missed eating out like this. But he couldn't tell Koyuki that.

Regaurdless, Koyuki smiled at him contentedly and they finnished the remainder of their meal in silence. Once they were finnished, Koyuki went over to the fire, leaned closer to it and whispered somthing Hiei couldn't make out. The fire flared and reverted to its original size when Koyuki had first started. When she was done she crawled over to the bed of leaves moss and ferns she had made earlier, all the while humming some song she had been since she got back with the food.

"What did you just do? To the fire?" Hiei asked her from his tree branch.

"I used a rejuvination spell." She said settling herself in her bed of moss.

"A rejuvination spell? What is that?" This was a curious one alright, so much mystery. Koyuki looked at him then sat up again. She began to explain.

"It's different for different elements, but it works in sort of the same fashion. Concerning fire for example, it makes it so that if the fire gets any smaller or dimmer, it will automatically revert to the previous state and stay that way until the one who casts the spell either dies or releases the spell themselves, you see?" She looked at Hiei and he nodded the way he did after Koyuki explained something to him. She was getting used to seeing him do it too.

He was still a litte curious however, "How does it work for other element?" The fire demon asked and she looked up at him again.

"For other elements? Well let's see," Koyuki said, looking thoughtful, "For water; say it's been tainted, with waste or some sort of contaminent. A water rejuvination spell, would make it pure again and suitable to drink." She explained and he nodded in understanding.

Hiei watched her re-settle herself in her bed of moss, continuing to hum the song from earlier.

"Wolf," He called. Using the name he found himself adressing her with.

"Hmm?" she mumbled.

"What is that song?" He didn't look at her when he asked his question, but instead waited for her answer. Then she spoke,"It's called 'Safe and Sound' by a singer named Taylor Swift," She paused then continued, "do you want me to sing it?" It was a simple question, yes or no. But Hiei didn't know how to answer.

"I suppose you could. It's not like it really matters to me."He huffed after a long time of silence. Koyuki smiled and replied,

"Alright then." and she started to sing:

_I remember tears streaming down your face  
When I said, "I'll never let you go"  
When all those shadows almost killed your light  
I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone  
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight"__  
_

As Hiei listened to Koyuki sing, a soothing peacfulness swept over him. For that moment he forgot all the abuse, abandonment, and pain he'd gone through. Though he would never admit it, he enjoyed the sound of her voice, singing sad and slow.

_Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I'll be safe and sound_

Hiei continued to listen, but it was hard. Ever so slowly, Koyuki was singing him to sleep. And his eyelids kept getting heavier and heavier. He was finding it difficult to

keep them open. Nonetheless Hiei continued to listen.

_Don't you dare look out your window darling  
Everything's on fire  
The war outside our door keeps raging on  
Hold on to this lullaby  
Even when the music's gone  
Gone_

Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I'll be safe and sound

_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
La La (La La)  
La La (La La)  
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
La La (La La)_

Just close your eyes  
You'll be alright  
Come morning light,  
You and I'll be safe and sound...

Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh.

And then she was finished. She glanced over at Hiei and realized that he was asleep._**Good, **_she thought, _**he deserves a rest.**_ Knowing that, she curled up in her soft bed of moss next to the fire and fell asleep.

It had been four weeks and a day since Hiei and Koyuki had met. Already a month. Hiei still hadn't told Koyuki where they were going or why they were in such a hurry. All Hiei had told Koyuki was that they had only two months to get there, now only one. Then again, Koyuki never complained. She just followed Hiei and did what she could to help him. They had been walking for the entire day so Hiei decided it was time to find a camp. When finding camps, they did the same thing that they did on the first night that they met. Hiei looked for a clearing and scoped the surrounding area for trouble while Koyuki hid somewhere. It had become sort of a routine for them.

This time, Koyuki hid in what looked like an old fox den. It hadn't been used in a long time and there were no current inhabitants. The moment Koyuki saw it she shifted into her wolf form and bolted inside. Hiei figured she liked it so she wouldn't move. Then again she never did leave the places he told her to stay.

Hiei had found only minor threats on his scouting. A small group of idiot bandits about a mile away, so there wasn't any problem there. Hiei had also foud a small town, further down the hill._** Mostly taverns and shops, **_He thought, hearing yelling and laughter in the distance.

"Better head back." He said to himself.

When he returned, he called to Koyuki. Hiei never used her name, but she never minded. Hiei called her 'Wolf' instead, since it was the animal she turned into most. Even on the occasions when she'd been in her ther forms. He still called her 'Wolf'.

Hiei had called her three times and was beginning to wonder if she had left the den. _**Maybe she caught the scent of a rabbit or squirrel.**_ Hiei wondered, but got rid of the thought when he saw a familiar furry white head pop out of the den entrance, and shining green eyes staring up at him.

"I called you three times, what were you doing?" Hiei asked hotly. Koyuki lowered her head and pressed her ears against her head in apology.

"_Sorry,_" she said, "_I was exploring the tunnels. Turns out this is a pretty intricate den._" The gilr explained.

Hiei siged. Knowing that the half demon girl was easily distracted and insanely curious.

"Hn. I don't care what you were doing." He stated blankly."Anyway, we should go." He told her and started to leave.

"_I'm...going to stay here tonight._" Koyuki said. Comming out of the den. Her white coat shining in the half moon light.

"Why?" Hiei asked. Voice bland.

"_I like it here,_" Koyuki replied, "_It... sort of gives me a sence of home._" Koyuki looked at Hiei with her big green eyes and gave him her puppy dog look. Hiei didn't like to admit it, but he found himself rarely saing no to that face.

"Fine," He sighed ," if you get scared or lonely come find me, or call me if something goes wrong." Hiei was walking away but he could feel something soft, rubbing against the palm of his hand. Koyuki had come up to him and was leaning against the fire demon, much to his suprise. Then she dissapeared into the den and that was the last Hiei saw of her that night.

"Hiei! Hiei wake up!" Koyuki called. Shaking the fire demon awake."Wha...? What is it?" He asked drowsily, lokking around still a bit dazed.

"It's noon! You and me overslept big time!"

At hearing that, Hiei shot up. He looked at the sky and realized the sun was at it's peek. _**Dammit, i've wasted half a day.**_ Hiei thought fruatrated.

"Come on, we're leaving. Now." He told, Koyuki getting up. Hiei started to walk away and Koyuki ran to catch up with him.

_**I swear, the girl's like a lost puppy. **_Hiei thought watching her run to keep up with him, her wounds had healed and there was a small scar forming where she had been stabbed.

Looking back at Koyuki, for the fist time he noticed her tattered clothes. short blue shorts, an old gray t-shirt, with the sleevless remains of a white jacket. _**How did I not notice how rugged she looked? How has she even survived during these cold nights?**_ he wondered. Realizing that he should probaly do something about it. The fire demon turned towards the direction of the town.

"Hiei?" Koyuki asked, wondering why they had changed course. As if Hiei had read her thoughts(Hiei can do that but this time he didn't, he just figured that's what she was wondering) he said, "Your clothes are a dead give away that you're from the human world, and the demons here are all idiots, therefore they won't bother to try and pick up on your demon energy so they'll automatically assume you're a human, which makes more trouble for me." Hiei explained why they were going to town, and Koyuki listened intently, nodding her head in understanding a few times.

"So, I need to get new clothes?" Koyuki asked and Hiei nodded,

"You're just getting the essentials. I don't exactly have an unlimited supply of money." He said, a warning for her to not go crazy. He knew that the girls in human world would be gone shopping for hours, and come back with moutains of crap they didn't need and over three-hundred dollars spent on it all.

Hiei knew that from watching Yusuke's girlfriend, Keiko and that annoying blue haired, ferry girl. _**Boton was her name I think**_, Hiei wondered as he and Koyuki walked into town. It was a mess. There were people everywhere. The two were walking in the crowd and Hiei steered Koyuki to the other end of the street, because a fight had broken out in a bar nearby.

_**Morons**__**, **_Koyuki and Hiei thought at the same time.

They walked up to a shop that was selling hooded started to walk towards one of them.

_**Great, **_Hiei thought, moaning under his breath, _**she's getting a pink one, I should have known. **_But instead of pink Koyuki grabbed a cloak with a faded, forest green color. Almost the same color as her eyes. She gave the money Hiei had given her to the stand keeper and folded the cloak so she could carry it.

"Why green?" Hiei asked as she came up to him again.

"Because green blends in better." She replied as they walked to another stand.

_**Makes sence, **_Hiei thought, _**she can hide well during the day and at night.**_

They were there for about twenty minutes, and when they were done, Koyuki had a pair of brown boots, heavy dark green pants, a small brown backpack, and two tank tops, one light green the other navy blue. Koyuki was window shopping when she spotted something.

"Hey Hiei, can you give me a little money?" She asked, excitedly.

Hiei was going to ask why but saw her staring dreamily at something and figured she could have at least one luxury item. He gave her a few coins and she walked over to a small shop wedged in between two food stores.

Koyuki came back a moment later carrying something in her hand. She gave Hiei back the change and tied the thing around her neck, it was then Hiei got a good look at it. A blood red ribbon with what looked like a silver wolf embroidery on it.

"What's that for?" He asked as they started to walk out of town.

"For tieing up my hair if I need to." She replied. The two walked out of town and back into the woods. Hiei stopped.

"Is something wrong?" Koyuki asked.

Hiei turned to face her and started to explain. "I'm returning to someone, in three weeks time, It'll be at a check-point. Her name is Makuro,"

Hiei waited for Koyuki to react but she said nothing, so he continued, "I'm one of her generals, a second you could say. And seeing as communications are down I can't contact her to tell her about..." he looked at Koyuki and he saw the realization in her eyes so he went on, "well you understand, so I don't think that you'll be able to come with me back there." Hiei waited for her to get angry or dissapointed, but she just stood there.

She sighed, with a light smile on her face, "Don't worry about it. I'll leave the day before you reach the check-in point." She smiled at Hiei then walked past him. He stood there for a moment then turned around and followed her.

_**That went better than expected.**_ Hiei thought, relieved. "Hey Wolf, don't you think you should put your clothes on and get rid of the old ones you're wearing?" He asked Koyuki after a while.

"Yeah, but i'm looking for a stream or pool, so that I can take a bath. I'll change after that." She replied, then stopped for a minute. "Do you hear that?" She asked quietly.

Hiei listened but didn't hear anything. "Hear what?" He questioned. Koyuki took off and called back to him exitedly,

"I hear a waterfall!" And she disappeared.

Hiei followed more slowly in the same direction, and after a while he too could hear the roaring of a waterfall. He walked through the trees and saw a waterfall that was spilling into a large pool. He looked around for Koyuki and hoped that she wasn't undressing yet. He'd hate to catch her without any clothes on, she'd be furious.

_**Then again,**_ he wondered, _**she does a lot of things that go against what I expect her to, though I doubt she's really that tolerant.**_

Hiei found her a few moments later, clothed thankfully, crouching at the bank of the pool. She was staring into the water.

"What are you doing Wolf?" Hiei asked coming up to her but he stopped, she was...crying. But why?

She sat there, staring into the pool. Her tears streamed down her face and into the water.

"Hey, Wolf...what's wrong?" He whispered to her, bending over to see her better. Koyuki started to speak, quietly and sadly, she didn't look at Hiei.

"This is just like it used to be. It's looks just like the pool and waterfall we used to go to on the weekends. In the summer, when it was hot, me, mom and dad would come to a place like this one and swim." She paused for a minute, and Hiei realized she was shaking.

"Why?" She asked no one."Why did they have to die? They never did anything wrong, they didn't need to die! He took them away fom me..." She said, voice uneasy.

"Who took them away?" Hiei asked her quietly, moving closer.

"The man with the three slashes across his eye and the red eye'd raven. He killed them and left me all alone. The little seven year old half demon to fend for herself," her voice dropped to a shaky whisper and Hiei had to strain to hear her,

"they leave her. Wondering...what she did wrong. What she did to deserve so much pain and suffering." She started sobbing taking quick breaths as her tears stained her face and fell into the water. Hiei didn't know what to do.

He wasn't used to situations like this. He figured he should comfort her but he didn't know how. He went over to Koyuki and placed a hand on her shoulder. (Not the best comforting method, but hey it's Hiei, please don't kill me.)Koyuki leaned a bit closer to him and he stiffened up but didn't pull away.__

__Koyuki had stopped crying now and she wiped away the remainder of her tears. Then she pulled away from Hiei and sat on the bank of the pool, her knees pulled up against her chest.

She continued to stare sadly at her reflection in the water then said. "Do we really have to split up when we get to Miss Makuro's?" She asked Hiei quietly. He sighed, knowing how "attatched" Makuro was to him.

"I don't know." He answered and they stayed sitting on the pool bank for a long time. The sun was almost completely down and stars were beginning to show in the darkening sky. Hiei stood,

"We should go find a camp."He said and held out his hand to help Koyuki up. She took it and he hauled her to her feet.

"Kay, you find a camp and i'll take a quick bath." She told him and he nodded, walking off. Koyuki stayed at the pool. Hiei found a small clearing a bit futher into the woods. He started a fire and waited. An hour had passed and Koyuki still hadn't come back. _**What's taking her so long**_? Hiei wondered trying not to get worried but he couldn't help it. Although he didn't want to admit it, he kind of liked the strange wolf girl. It was hard not to. She was kind and mysterious and she just made someone happier.

Hiei enjoyed having her around. It made the journey a little more fun, and like Koyuki, Hiei wasn't particularly looking forward to her leaving. Hiei shook his head to clear his mind of the thoughts about strange Faerie girl._**She's a half human, and i'm a full demon. Those just don't mix. **_Hiei told himself.

_**Besides,**_ he thought,_** why would a girl like her want to be around a demon like me. I've been hated by everyone my entire life, why should she be any different.**_

__Hiei stood up and decided to go look for his temporary traveling partner. He went to the pool where he had seen her earlier, she wasn't there, so he decided to go further up near the waterfall to look for her. He came around a large pile of rocks near the fall and he saw Koyuki. In the water, and unclothed. Her back was turned to him and he could see a large, dark, scar on her back. He clutched his shoulder. Thinking of the scar he had sustained from fighting Makuro in the tournament.

Koyuki turned to look over her shoulder, and Hiei quickly moved behind the rocks. Thankfully, she didn't see him and she turned back around. He peeked over the rocks again and settled his eyes once agin on her scar. _**A burn.**_ He thought, recignizing the way it looked. His gaze moved from her scar and he took in her appearance. Her silvery white hair that glistened in the moonlight. The deep green pools that were he soft, kind eyes, her lithe, flawless form. Hiei felt himself unable to take his eyes from her and he watched spellboud as she moved through the water. _**What's happening to me?**_ He thought confused and a bit frightened. _**Why do I feel so...?**_

He was brought from his thoughts when Koyuki tunred towards him and began to come out of the water, heading towards the bank. He backed away, making sure to keep out of sight, then flitted back to camp before she could see him. The young demon was tending the fire when Koyuki got back. She was in her new clothes and Hiei had to admit she looked good. But he decided not to stare. He'd already done enough of that. Koyuki sat down across from him and didn't say anything for a long time. Then she spoke,

"Did you like the veiw?" She asked, not bothering to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

Hiei knew she was asking about when he'd seen her at the pool. Koyuki was looking at him. Hiei could tell she was angry.

"Cause' I can tell you that's all you're gonna' see." Hiei remained silent. He wasn't thinking about that. He was more curious about her scar. So he asked her, in an attempt to distract her from her anger at his spying;

"How did you get that scar?" He said looking at Koyuki calmly. She flinched. Talking about her scar and how she'd gotten it, was a bit of a touchy subject. Thinking of it made the entire night of her parents death run through her mind, fresh and new, as if it had only been yesterday. Surely Hiei figured that much? Koyuki decided to ignore his question and stay on the peeping subject.

"How is it you know about that, Mr. Peeping Tom!" She accused.

"I wasn't spying on you like that." Hiei stated, not looking at Koyuki.

"Oh really, then how is it I picked up your scent behind that rock pile? In perfect view of where I was taking a bath by the way! Wolf's sense of smell, remember?" Koyuki's voice was getting louder and still Hiei was staring at the ground not saying anything. It's not that Hiei didn't want to say anything, it's that he didn't know what to say. Koyuki was mad enough that she thought he was a pervert, what would she say if she new why he'd gone looking for her. If she knew he'd been worried, would she bee offended. That he thought she couldn't take care of herself? That maybe something had happened.

_**It's because I was worried about her. Most idiotic decison ever. **_Hiei mentally cursed himself for even thinking about Koyuki. Especially since it caused this much trouble.

"Hiei are you listening?" Koyuki brought him out of his thoughts. Her eyes had softened and she seemed a bit concerned. Hiei wondered why, though he could guess.

"You look a little sick. Is something wrong?" She asked and Hiei really didn't want to tell her why he'd come looking for her, but figured she couldn't get any angrier. Hiei took a deep breath and gave his explanation.

" I was...wondering where you were. You'd been gone such a long time. I thought something had happened to you." Hiei didn't look at Koyuki the entire time, and instead kept his eyes on the ground. He waited for her responce.

"So," she said quietly, "you came looking for me because you were worried about me?" Koyuki couldn't hide the suprise in her voice.

In fact, she was...really happy about it. Ever since her parents had died, no one had bothered to care about her at all. No one cared if she was dead, or not, no one cared where she was or what she was doing. She could be bleeding to death at the bottom of a ditch and nobody would have the thought pop into their heads that she migth be hurt. And yet, it seemed that Hiei did care. Even just a little bit. At least he came looking for her, that's more that anyone else she knew would have done.

Koyuki looked over at Hiei, and noticed he was still staring at the ground. She stood up and walked over, then she sat down next to him. He was a bit suprised but still didn't look up to meet her eyes. Then something unexpected happened. Koyuki leaned closer and wrapped her arms around Hiei. He stiffened up like a board and began to pull away, but Koyuki held him tight. He didn't move as she started to talk.

"Thank you Hiei," she whispered, loud enough so that only he could hear her, "no one, has ever bothered to so much as think about my safety since my parents died, so thank you. And i'm sorry for accusing you of spying on me, I know now that wasn't what you were trying to do."

Hiei was shocked. Koyuki was both thanking him and apologizing, all while pressed up against his chest. Hiei had relaxed a bit. Slowly and stiffly he returned Koyuki's hug and lightly placed his arms around her. They stayed in each other's embrace for what seemed like forever,(but in actuallity was only about five minutes) and both were a bit dissapointed when Koyuki, though hesitently, pulled away.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I should have done that." She said blushing. Hiei turned away quickly to hide his light blush, but he wasn't fast enough and Koyuki saw him. She smiled.

"Well, I guess...we should probably go to sleep now." Hiei said quietly. Koyuki layed down and covered herself with her cloak. Using the hood as a pillow. Hiei watched her as she closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep. It was his turn to take first watch tonight, so he sat down next to Koyuki and leaned up against the tree behind him. He fixed his eyes on the fire's dancing flames. He almost didn't hear Koyuki when she wispered sleepily," Good-night, Hiei." and she fell asleep seeing Hiei smiling at her.


End file.
